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29

Apr2016

Faagio -Story of a Delhi Startup

Founders ; Tarun Bhargava (left) and Arnav Vashistha ( right)

One hot summer afternoon Arnav and Tarun, two Delhi graduates were roaming in an upscale shopping area, in search of a Tommy Hilfiger store. According to Google, there was supposed to be one in the area, but when they reached their ‘destination’ as per Google’s directions, they found none.

The concept of Faagio was born as a result of this one unsuccessful afternoon experience. The duo pondered over the fact how often retail outlets lack an online mention, especially the smaller businesses and thus making it impossible to reach out to their consumers. Bigger brands at least have some presence but the small to midsize outlets almost always have to depend on word of mouth and loyal customers unless they are active on social media or are able to advertise.

Faagio was conceived. A search engine which not only locates, but also provides detailed information about outlets and facilities available in Delhi and NCR. It also allows people to review their experiences and share the same with others.

What makes them stand out is that along with listing the better known brands they also list the small business across the four categories. “Although there are a lot of small scale outlets in Delhi and its suburbs, providing great service and are run by talented and creative people they lack recognition; getting them their due credit is one very important aspect of our start-up.” said Arnav Vasishtha, the co-founder of Faagio.

The App

Making Sweet Sacrifices

However, it has not been an easy journey for the two. Arnav Vasishtha, left behind a career in Corporate Communication and Tarun Bhargava who was 22 when he started, left behind the prospects of a secured job with Ernst & Young.

Tarun dropped out of his post graduation course in Finance and Marketing to start this business and initially, had to face much resistance from friends and family. “They used to tell me that it’s too early for me to start my own business and that I should complete my studies first but I believe it was the right time for me start, and I could afford to take risks.” Tarun believed in his idea and went ahead with it.

It has only been an year since they started and they are already reaching 5000 people through Facebook , have 2500 registered users, 4000 people visiting the website every month, have recently launched their iOS and android app and are growing by 120% every month.

The logo

Through the Dense Forest of Hurdles: The Struggles of a Regular Start-up

On asking about the hurdles they had to face while setting up the business, Tarun talked about how important it is to have knowledge about new media. “Outsourcing my tech team was not one of the best decisions I had made, it becomes easy for people to fool you when you don’t have knowledge about something, I soon realised that the technical aspect of my business is indispensable and I started educating myself as much as I could, and soon enough we had our own in-house tech team.”

“Customer acquisition is yet another-not-so-peculiar challenge that almost all the start-ups face, it is an ongoing process, it’s not a phase, it’s something we should never stop working for.” said Tarun.

Getting dedicated interns and employees when Faagio had no recognition in the market was yet another challenge. “Our start-up works on an internship model and initially, it was difficult to make them believe in our start-up. We had to pay heavily to our interns to get quality work done but once we had some recognition, our problem was solved and we now have an extremely diligent and passionate team.”

The Ape Logo the Funky Name and the Story Behind

When asked about the story behind the name, Arnav candidly asked,

“Do you play GTA?”

“I used to” I said.

“Do you know what the GTA scooter was called?”

“Faggio”

“Exactly” “This is what inspired me to name our company Faagio. We plan to deliver consumer products and services to people’s doorstep in the coming years and Faagio seemed like a perfect name.”

Their inspiration behind the logo, Arnav explained was the Great Ape, one of the most intelligent specie on our planet. They just made it look a bit funkier.

Team Faagio

Faagio and the Future

Talking to Tarun about the future of Faagio,I asked inquisitively “Where do you see Faagio in another 10 years?”

“We see Faagio incorporating a few more categories such as Hospitals and Schools because I believe that in order to succeed, we must keep evolving ourselves,” explained the duo.

Talking about the funding, Tarun said “We started the business with our own investment and he have not received any funding as of now, in this case it becomes even more difficult for us to beat our competitors but once we do get the funding, we’ll take Faagio to the next level. Until then, we have to keep ourselves motivated and take pleasure every time we cross a small milestone.”

Next time you are searching for retail outlets in Delhi and NCR, do remember to try out www.Faagio.com Oh and share your experience with others!

Written bySomya Khera

Somya defines herself as a feminist, an environmentalist and as a writer who wants to contribute to the society in every way possible.

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